Lightning Bolt: the official album thread

[harmless]

I wish there were too. Hopefully all the stuff in the interview mentioning changing time signatures and interesting grooves will make up for this. He might've made the songs more rhythmically interesting as an act of rebellion. We can hope. It does sound like he puts a hint of that in MYM, even where it's not even needed (the intro).

Or hopefully we have been misled by O'Brien, and there *is* a Matt song on this album. Perhaps the afore-mentioned "complex" song that has yet to be designated to a writer.

to be fair, prior to backspacer I didn't care much for his songwriting, but with the drummer especially I am far less concerned about whether or not he wrote songs for other people and far more concerned with whether or not he is doing good stuff on the songs they have. I suspect (and I could be 100% off base with this) that when people bring in song ideas the drummer has more room to play and make a song his own than other people in the band.

I think so.

[Tuolumne]

For those that hate Future Days or Just Breathe: how would you have reacted if you had heard Betterman or Small Town again for the first time?

[Strat]

I dont like how PJ feel they need to be relevant. Neil young doesnt give a shit. he puts out music as he does and every so often, it will strike a nerve in the media/music listening public. Makes for a far more interesting career. Seems as though BOB is all about "hey man, need a hit to stay relevant, he he he!!"

And most depressing about all that is PJ are in agreement with him.

Sad Face.

There is a reason Binaural is top shelf

I think the Neil Young comparison here is irrelevant and misplaced. He's a SOLO artist. Totally different beast. He can go from Crazy Horse, to Daniel Lanois, to his wife Peggy, to CSN, etc.

A better comparison would be to find a GROUP that's had a 20 plus year career. Also, a group that's had signficant commercial success (where the benchmark of appealing to mass/cult audiences are different). That would be comparable.

If you still really want to compare them to Neil Young, I'd look at the band members individually, and if you look at say, Ed. and combine his PJ output that he wrote himself with ITW and Uke songs, you'd have a fairer comparison to Neil. Solo artists are completely different animals. Apples and oranges.

Not at all. Neil had massive success with Crazy Horse multiple times. Whats your point? As a group they could all collectively agree on having a career "like a solo artist" as you put it.

PJ are trying to stay relevant and make music so they can still fill arenas. That does not make for as interesting of a career.

[stupidmop]

I'm reading some KoL articles ahead of their new album, and while they're not saying much, it's all more interesting and engaging than what PJ are saying. But they are a younger band.

I think pearl jam have always sucked about talking about their actual music.

that's probably true. I wonder why that is.

Because when they were making their best music they were trying to avoid appearing to be greedy by promoting it given their already massive success and now, having never learned, they don't know how to talk about it as their creative spark has dwindled with age?

I may be wrong but usually all thier interviews end up being about what is going on around the band rather than the music, When they were at thier biggest everything ended up being about them hating fame/ being moody assholes/ed being a weirdo, then when yield came along everything was about them being more ~*democratic*~, nothing about binaural really goes past this is what binaural recording means:, I can't remember reading fuck all about riot act, s/t was all grrr argh we're ready to rock, Backspacer was happy happy fun time, And now LB is Bo'B making a mess.

Honestly we can pretty much guess what they're gonna say, Mikes gonna say everythings amazing, Stone will say oh eds great i love working with him, eddie will say his favourite song on the album is a stone song and say something about experimenting or taking a left turn that will get everyone excited, everyone will say how amazing it is that they're still a band, eddie will talk about waves, the ocean, cars and roads and also probably say something about playing live shows that will piss everyone off, Someone will hint at an album or ep coming sooner that we think. Jeff might actually say something vaguely interesting though.

[harmless]

I dont like how PJ feel they need to be relevant. Neil young doesnt give a shit. he puts out music as he does and every so often, it will strike a nerve in the media/music listening public. Makes for a far more interesting career. Seems as though BOB is all about "hey man, need a hit to stay relevant, he he he!!"

And most depressing about all that is PJ are in agreement with him.

Sad Face.

There is a reason Binaural is top shelf

I think the Neil Young comparison here is irrelevant and misplaced. He's a SOLO artist. Totally different beast. He can go from Crazy Horse, to Daniel Lanois, to his wife Peggy, to CSN, etc.

A better comparison would be to find a GROUP that's had a 20 plus year career. Also, a group that's had signficant commercial success (where the benchmark of appealing to mass/cult audiences are different). That would be comparable.

If you still really want to compare them to Neil Young, I'd look at the band members individually, and if you look at say, Ed. and combine his PJ output that he wrote himself with ITW and Uke songs, you'd have a fairer comparison to Neil. Solo artists are completely different animals. Apples and oranges.

Not at all. Neil had massive success with Crazy Horse multiple times. Whats your point? As a group they could all collectively agree on having a career "like a solo artist" as you put it.

PJ are trying to stay relevant and make music so they can still fill arenas. That does not make for as interesting of a career.

Yeah, it's not like bands inherently and necessarily do things differently to solo artists. Some solo artists outsource all of their creative responsibility, just like you're arguing bands are more likely to.

[harmless]

I'm reading some KoL articles ahead of their new album, and while they're not saying much, it's all more interesting and engaging than what PJ are saying. But they are a younger band.

I think pearl jam have always sucked about talking about their actual music.

that's probably true. I wonder why that is.

Because when they were making their best music they were trying to avoid appearing to be greedy by promoting it given their already massive success and now, having never learned, they don't know how to talk about it as their creative spark has dwindled with age?

I may be wrong but usually all thier interviews end up being about what is going on around the band rather than the music, When they were at thier biggest everything ended up being about them hating fame/ being moody assholes/ed being a weirdo, then when yield came along everything was about them being more ~*democratic*~, nothing about binaural really goes past this is what binaural recording means:, I can't remember reading fuck all about riot act, s/t was all grrr argh we're ready to rock, Backspacer was happy happy fun time, And now LB is Bo'B making a mess.

Honestly we can pretty much guess what they're gonna say, Mikes gonna say everythings amazing, Stone will say oh eds great i love working with him, eddie will say his favourite song on the album is a stone song and say something about experimenting or taking a left turn that will get everyone excited, everyone will say how amazing it is that they're still a band, eddie will talk about waves, the ocean, cars and roads and also probably say something about playing live shows that will piss everyone off, Someone will hint at an album or ep coming sooner that we think. Jeff might actually say something vaguely interesting though.

Good post.

[EJ]

Jeff might actually say something vaguely interesting though.

Which is funny considering he's probably the one (with Mike) who's probably the most interested in churning out as much music with the band as they can. He may not like touring anymore, but I'd guess he really wants to keep making records.

[harmless]

Jeff might actually say something vaguely interesting though.

Which is funny considering he's probably the one (with Mike) who's probably the most interested in churning out as much music with the band as they can. He may not like touring anymore, but I'd guess he really wants to keep making records.

This is why he needs to be the creative director of the band. His creative drive is so encouraging.

[Tuolumne]

I dont like how PJ feel they need to be relevant. Neil young doesnt give a shit. he puts out music as he does and every so often, it will strike a nerve in the media/music listening public. Makes for a far more interesting career. Seems as though BOB is all about "hey man, need a hit to stay relevant, he he he!!"

And most depressing about all that is PJ are in agreement with him.

Sad Face.

There is a reason Binaural is top shelf

I think the Neil Young comparison here is irrelevant and misplaced. He's a SOLO artist. Totally different beast. He can go from Crazy Horse, to Daniel Lanois, to his wife Peggy, to CSN, etc.

A better comparison would be to find a GROUP that's had a 20 plus year career. Also, a group that's had signficant commercial success (where the benchmark of appealing to mass/cult audiences are different). That would be comparable.

If you still really want to compare them to Neil Young, I'd look at the band members individually, and if you look at say, Ed. and combine his PJ output that he wrote himself with ITW and Uke songs, you'd have a fairer comparison to Neil. Solo artists are completely different animals. Apples and oranges.

Not at all. Neil had massive success with Crazy Horse multiple times. Whats your point? As a group they could all collectively agree on having a career "like a solo artist" as you put it.

PJ are trying to stay relevant and make music so they can still fill arenas. That does not make for as interesting of a career.

Yeah, go ahead and compare Neil WITH Crazy Horse. Do it. Then you have a band with a distinctive "sloppy" style. And you'd also have decades-long gaps and which he went off into various cool or awful tangents, BY HIMSELF. My point is that it's apples and oranges. Like comparing a space shuttle with a jet ski. Groups are their own thing with their own pros and cons.

[stupidmop]

For those that hate Future Days or Just Breathe: how would you have reacted if you had heard Betterman or Small Town again for the first time?

I've always thought those two sounded out of place on their respective albums. I like betterman but i still don't care for small town. I probably would have bitched about small town being boring. I'd have probably got my panties in a bunch that betterman was everywhere but clearly not the best song on the album.

Jeff might actually say something vaguely interesting though.

Which is funny considering he's probably the one (with Mike) who's probably the most interested in churning out as much music with the band as they can. He may not like touring anymore, but I'd guess he really wants to keep making records.

Yeah theres a quote from somewhere where he said if he had his way they'd be recording all the time or something. I wish he'd persuade the band to just record some cool shit and just put it out/wack it on the internet. No fuss and no commitment to a press rollout or anything that way, they don't even have to tour it immediatly/at all.

[Strat]

I dont like how PJ feel they need to be relevant. Neil young doesnt give a shit. he puts out music as he does and every so often, it will strike a nerve in the media/music listening public. Makes for a far more interesting career. Seems as though BOB is all about "hey man, need a hit to stay relevant, he he he!!"

And most depressing about all that is PJ are in agreement with him.

Sad Face.

There is a reason Binaural is top shelf

I think the Neil Young comparison here is irrelevant and misplaced. He's a SOLO artist. Totally different beast. He can go from Crazy Horse, to Daniel Lanois, to his wife Peggy, to CSN, etc.

A better comparison would be to find a GROUP that's had a 20 plus year career. Also, a group that's had signficant commercial success (where the benchmark of appealing to mass/cult audiences are different). That would be comparable.

If you still really want to compare them to Neil Young, I'd look at the band members individually, and if you look at say, Ed. and combine his PJ output that he wrote himself with ITW and Uke songs, you'd have a fairer comparison to Neil. Solo artists are completely different animals. Apples and oranges.

Not at all. Neil had massive success with Crazy Horse multiple times. Whats your point? As a group they could all collectively agree on having a career "like a solo artist" as you put it.

PJ are trying to stay relevant and make music so they can still fill arenas. That does not make for as interesting of a career.

Yeah, go ahead and compare Neil WITH Crazy Horse. Do it. Then you have a band with a distinctive "sloppy" style. And you'd also have decades-long gaps and which he went off into various cool or awful tangents, BY HIMSELF. My point is that it's apples and oranges. Like comparing a space shuttle with a jet ski. Groups are their own thing with their own pros and cons.

LOL, what?

[harmless]

For those that hate Future Days or Just Breathe: how would you have reacted if you had heard Betterman or Small Town again for the first time?

I've always thought those two sounded out of place on their respective albums. I like betterman but i still don't care for small town. I probably would have bitched about small town being boring. I'd have probably got my panties in a bunch that betterman was everywhere but clearly not the best song on the album.

Jeff might actually say something vaguely interesting though.

Which is funny considering he's probably the one (with Mike) who's probably the most interested in churning out as much music with the band as they can. He may not like touring anymore, but I'd guess he really wants to keep making records.

Yeah theres a quote from somewhere where he said if he had his way they'd be recording all the time or something. I wish he'd persuade the band to just record some cool shit and just put it out/wack it on the internet. No fuss and no commitment to a press rollout or anything that way, they don't even have to tour it immediatly/at all.

I would rather they put 100% effort into records and stop touring completely, than keep making Backspacer.

[Thejambi]

This thread needs some producing .

[harmless]

I think we should sift through what we have and narrow down all the posts into a perfect commercial 12.

[Tuolumne]

I dont like how PJ feel they need to be relevant. Neil young doesnt give a shit. he puts out music as he does and every so often, it will strike a nerve in the media/music listening public. Makes for a far more interesting career. Seems as though BOB is all about "hey man, need a hit to stay relevant, he he he!!"

And most depressing about all that is PJ are in agreement with him.

Sad Face.

There is a reason Binaural is top shelf

I think the Neil Young comparison here is irrelevant and misplaced. He's a SOLO artist. Totally different beast. He can go from Crazy Horse, to Daniel Lanois, to his wife Peggy, to CSN, etc.

A better comparison would be to find a GROUP that's had a 20 plus year career. Also, a group that's had signficant commercial success (where the benchmark of appealing to mass/cult audiences are different). That would be comparable.

If you still really want to compare them to Neil Young, I'd look at the band members individually, and if you look at say, Ed. and combine his PJ output that he wrote himself with ITW and Uke songs, you'd have a fairer comparison to Neil. Solo artists are completely different animals. Apples and oranges.

Not at all. Neil had massive success with Crazy Horse multiple times. Whats your point? As a group they could all collectively agree on having a career "like a solo artist" as you put it.

PJ are trying to stay relevant and make music so they can still fill arenas. That does not make for as interesting of a career.

Yeah, go ahead and compare Neil WITH Crazy Horse. Do it. Then you have a band with a distinctive "sloppy" style. And you'd also have decades-long gaps and which he went off into various cool or awful tangents, BY HIMSELF. My point is that it's apples and oranges. Like comparing a space shuttle with a jet ski. Groups are their own thing with their own pros and cons.

LOL, what?

If you can't understand the difference between a solo artist and a group, I can't help you. My awkward attempt and explaining it to you aside. LOL DUDE!

[Jaeti]

An EPK of this thread would still be 100 pages long.

[stupidmop]

This thread needs some producing .

To remind the people who liked the thread before why they liked the thread in the first place? Or maybe to invite people who've never read the thread to read it and like it?

[harmless]

I dont like how PJ feel they need to be relevant. Neil young doesnt give a shit. he puts out music as he does and every so often, it will strike a nerve in the media/music listening public. Makes for a far more interesting career. Seems as though BOB is all about "hey man, need a hit to stay relevant, he he he!!"

And most depressing about all that is PJ are in agreement with him.

Sad Face.

There is a reason Binaural is top shelf

I think the Neil Young comparison here is irrelevant and misplaced. He's a SOLO artist. Totally different beast. He can go from Crazy Horse, to Daniel Lanois, to his wife Peggy, to CSN, etc.

A better comparison would be to find a GROUP that's had a 20 plus year career. Also, a group that's had signficant commercial success (where the benchmark of appealing to mass/cult audiences are different). That would be comparable.

If you still really want to compare them to Neil Young, I'd look at the band members individually, and if you look at say, Ed. and combine his PJ output that he wrote himself with ITW and Uke songs, you'd have a fairer comparison to Neil. Solo artists are completely different animals. Apples and oranges.

Not at all. Neil had massive success with Crazy Horse multiple times. Whats your point? As a group they could all collectively agree on having a career "like a solo artist" as you put it.

PJ are trying to stay relevant and make music so they can still fill arenas. That does not make for as interesting of a career.

Yeah, go ahead and compare Neil WITH Crazy Horse. Do it. Then you have a band with a distinctive "sloppy" style. And you'd also have decades-long gaps and which he went off into various cool or awful tangents, BY HIMSELF. My point is that it's apples and oranges. Like comparing a space shuttle with a jet ski. Groups are their own thing with their own pros and cons.

LOL, what?

If you can't understand the difference between a solo artist and a group, I can't help you. My awkward attempt and explaining it to you aside. LOL DUDE!

This isn't about the differences between a solo artist and a band. It's about the differences between the choices a solo artist might make, and the choices a band might make. And apart from the relative difficulty of a band making a unanimous choice about anything, there really is no difference. Both band and solo artist could choose to do whatever they chose, which honoured the integrity of their artistic drives, or to outsource everything because of a need to make it palatable and "commercial" to some imagined new demographic. In PJ's case, these two things might not be mutually exclusive, though, which is why nobody will ever win this argument.

[ABNorman]

I'll be waiting to produce a thread if you guys want to do something significant.

[Django Butterworth]

The internet needs to put out. My ears have a case of the blue balls.